RockCreek invests in SAF-technology developer Raven SR

RockCreek, a global multi-asset firm investing in the energy transition, announced the closing of an investment in Raven SR Inc., a company that produces high-value renewable transportation fuels from a variety of feedstocks, including waste streams, using a proprietary noncombustion process.

Raven SR will use RockCreek’s investment to further commercialize low to negative carbon-intensity hydrogen and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

This investment comes on the heels of last month’s announcement that Raven SR’s Richmond, California, project is the first-ever biomass-to-hydrogen project permitted in the state of California.

Renewable hydrogen from this project will be commercially available in the Bay Area beginning in 2024 through agreements with Chevron New Energies and Hyzon Motors.

The same core technology will also be adapted to commercialize the production of sustainable aviation fuel in 2025.

The Raven SR investment is part of RockCreek’s Smart Aviation Futures fund.

Working with a major U.S. airline, Smart Aviation Futures invests in high-growth companies that enable and benefit from decarbonizing the aviation industry.

Airlines are looking to both SAF and hydrogen as key energy-transition tools.

Smart Aviation Futures taps into tailwinds from billions of dollars in opportunities unlocked globally by policy measures like the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act and will target investments in companies aligned with corporate and consumer preferences for reducing environmental footprints.

Supportive public-policy initiatives and high demand for SAF are encouraging investors to expand in the space, leading to project development in regions across the world.

“Raven SR is pioneering innovative ways to produce renewable transportation fuels that will play an instrumental role in decarbonizing the aviation and transportation industries,” said Justin Heyman, managing director of RockCreek. “Their products have an attractive environmental footprint and are cost competitive with traditional fuels. This offers industries smart options to both manage fuel costs and achieve abatement goals.”

Matt Murdock, CEO of Raven SR, added, “RockCreek’s investment in Raven SR signals the investing community’s confidence that our patented steam/CO2-reforming technology will have a significant impact on reducing carbon emissions through the production of carbon-neutral and carbon-negative fuels. With the demand for sustainable aviation fuel and renewable hydrogen rapidly on the rise, RockCreek’s support will play a vital role in advancing the development and expansion of our global business model.”

The Raven SR technology is a noncombustion thermal, chemical reductive process that converts organic waste and landfill gas to hydrogen and Fischer-Tropsch synthetic fuels.

Unlike other hydrogen production technologies, its steam/CO2 reformation does not require fresh water as a feedstock and uses less than half the energy of electrolysis.

The process is more efficient than conventional hydrogen production and can deliver fuel with low- to negative-carbon intensity.

Additionally, Raven SR’s goal is to generate as much of its own power on-site as possible to reduce reliance on, or be independent of, the grid.

Its modular design provides a scalable means to locally produce renewable hydrogen and synthetic liquid fuels from local waste.